Use EPA's 'Look for the Logo' campaign to promote your business!United States Environmental Protection AgencyAs you know, EPA's Renovation Rule requires firms working in older homes and child care facilities to be certified, train their employees and follow lead-safe work practices. To ensure that your potential customers hire a Lead-Safe Certified firm, help spread the word by using EPA's new outreach materials to remind everyone to "Look for the Logo"! For more information or to download the materials for free, click here.

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New OSHA rule presses employers on reporting work-related injuriesDoor & Window Market MagazineThe U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has beefed up its requirements for employers reporting severe injuries.
In updating its "Occupational Injury and Illness Recording and Reporting Requirements," OSHA enacted a final rule that will require employers to report all work-related in-patient hospitalizations, as well as amputations and losses of an eye, to OSHA within 24 hours of the event.

An Ohio replacement contractor sold an additional $7 million in 2013 without spending additional money on marketing or leads. In this special report, they reveal how they increased revenue and lowered costs. “It’s really an unfair advantage… but we’d be crazy not to do it.” They open up their books, share their numbers, and prove how they boosted sales by 41%. See How They Did It

US home construction tumbles in AugustThe Associated Press via The OregonianU.S. home construction plunged in August, led by steep decline in the volatile apartment category. But single-family house construction, a larger and more stable portion of the market, fell only modestly. Construction fell 14.4 percent in August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 956,000 homes, the Commerce Department said. This reverses the sharp gains in July when the rate of new construction rose to 1.12 million homes, the highest annual rate since 2007.

Upbeat signs for housing market, even as construction slowsDailyFinanceHousing starts and permits fell in August, but upward revisions to the prior month's data suggested the housing market continued to gradually improve. Groundbreaking declined 14.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual 956,000-unit pace, the Commerce Department said recently. July's starts were revised to show a 1.12-million unit rate, the highest level since November 2007, instead of the previously reported 1.09-million unit rate.

New technology could give thieves key to your door, literallyTODAYFor decades, if you wanted your keys copied, you went to a hardware store or key shop in person. The only way a thief could get your keys was to physically steal them.
Not anymore. Now cutting edge technology potentially allows crooks to open any door with no problem.

Narrowing the 'green gap' for homeownersBy Michael J. Berens Marketing researchers call it "the green gap" — the difference between the universe of consumers who say they care about conservation and protecting the environment and the universe of those who act on those values when making purchases. Following the onset of the Great Recession in 2008, the green gap widened considerably as the state of the economy, job market and housing market became top-of-mind with consumers. Recently, however, the trend has been moving in the other direction, with more consumers expressing a renewed commitment to a greener lifestyle.

OSHA announces top 10 violations for 2014Safety.BLR.comSpeaking at the 2014 National Safety Council Congress and Expo, Patrick Kapust, deputy director of OSHA's Directorate of Enforcement Programs, shared preliminary numbers for the top 10 most frequently cited OSHA standards in fiscal year 2014.